ENGLAND finally reaffirmed their rich potential with a scoring spree against Northern Ireland.

The Irish were superb in the first half as they held Sven-Goran Eriksson's side and raised a few worries among those England fans frustrated by tepid friendly displays against Spain and Holland.

This is an England side that, despite failing to make it past the quarter-finals of a major tournament under Eriksson, always tends to save their better displays for competitive games.

However, having spent all week talking up their World Cup chances they came vibrantly alive after the break in striking three goals within just nine minutes in this qualifier.

Joe Cole, who made an impressive first competitive start on the left flank, made the breakthrough with a crisp 20-yard shot.

Michael Owen then struck from close range before the hapless Chris Baird diverted a cross by the excellent Wayne Rooney into his own net.

With England now rampant, Frank Lampard's drive was deflected in off Colin Murdock to compound the Irish woes, although their faint qualification hopes always rested on next week's game in Poland.

England, meanwhile, will face Azerbaijan on a high once again and while they should be expected to vanquish an Irish side ranked 111th in the world, they did all that could be expected of them.

Under pressure to deliver, they duly produced a second-half display that excited fans' pulses, if not exactly set them racing due to the one-sided nature of the contest.

Northern Ireland had arrived in Manchester with the Home Nations trophy from 1985, but with just six wins in their previous 96 encounters with England.

But Lawrie Sanchez, the king of the underdog with Wimbledon and Wycombe, made his intentions clear by picking Bristol City's Tommy Doherty as a midfield hatchet man ahead of Aston Villa's Steve Davis.

It took Doherty just two minutes to produce his first crunching tackle on Rooney and it was the taste of things to come for England as they huffed and puffed with little success early on.

The Irish, meanwhile, were magnificent in the first half. With just three Premiership regulars in their midst, they chased and harried as if their lives depended on it - and then they chased and harried some more.

Joe Cole buzzed brightly on the left flank early on, although his new-found tactical discipline was in marked contrast to David Beckham, whose repeated absence from the right flank was costly.

Rather than stretching the Irish and giving his side width, Beckham kept on trotting inside in a vain search for the ball and England suffered as a result.

Chances duly came but vanished just as quickly. Owen, who has lost some sharpness on the Real Madrid bench in recent weeks, failed to make the most of being put clean through by Lampard.

The Birmingham keeper was also in inspired form as he tipped Rooney's long-range effort around the post and then repeated the feat with Beckham's free-kick and Lampard's drive.

Rooney did manage to strike a post with a flicked header and fizzed another effort just wide but it was the Irish whose fans beamed with pride.

"It's just like watching Brazil," they crowed. Not quite but they deserved their brief moment of glory.

After all, it did not last too much longer, with Cole striking the home side ahead just a minute after the restart as England re-emerged a different side.

The Chelsea midfielder seized on a lapse by Tony Capaldi as he intercepted a pass across the edge of the penalty area and, having stepped inside, he curled a shot inside the far post.

The floodgates, so sturdy before the break, were now open. In fact, the difference from the first half was so marked, it was frankly ridiculous.

Everything that England now touched turned to gold, while the Irish were all at sea.

Lampard was the next to inject panic in the opposition defence, exchanging passes with Rooney before Owen swooped to pounce from close range as he was played onside.

England merely tightened their grip a minute later as Rooney tormented Murdock on the byline and delivered a low cross which was deflected into his own net by Baird as Owen lurked next to him.

You had to feel for the Irish. Lampard was the next to take aim, with Murdock's header only serving to deflect the ball past the hapless Taylor.